


You belong somewhere close to me

by HolmesApothecary



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Boys In Love, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Marriage, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:33:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21709033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolmesApothecary/pseuds/HolmesApothecary
Summary: Five times David and Patrick renewed their vows + 1 time they didn’t need to
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 118
Kudos: 256
Collections: Schitt's Creek Open Fic Night 2.0





	You belong somewhere close to me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sloganeer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sloganeer/gifts).



> Prompt:  
> any and all stories about their very happy future, especially about them doing all the things they love best (including each other lol)
> 
> The song at the end is Tom Petty's _Wildflowers_. Listen to it immediately if you never have (and the whole album). 
> 
> Thanks to Claire for making sure this was coherent-ish. I removed 87% of the ellipses in your honor.

**_"[Marriage] is a contract best renewed and renewed again, even quietly and privately, even alone. -Michelle Obama_ **

\---

**One**

“Son of a bitch.”

David heard the muffled curse as he headed up the stairs with the last of the boxes that had been loitering in the laundry room.

“Honey? You good in there?” 

Patrick hummed a response but then David heard a loud thump and figured he should investigate. 

His husband sat on the floor of the closet surrounded by pieces of the IKEA organizing system David had meticulously picked out. It wasn't the custom system he had in New York that Marie Kondo herself would have cried over, but it was his in their very own house. 

The house had been the third they had seen. After the disaster of apartment hunting, he wasn’t sure what to expect, but Patrick really did realign his wants with David as part of the search. He knew David and what David liked and only expected him to compromise on things that weren’t a big deal to him and on the budget. In the end, it had been fun, picturing themselves in each of the houses and looking for the perfect one to fit them both. And David didn’t actually care if it wasn’t a 2500 square foot live/work space. It was their home. 

And this house, with its weird little room that was too small for a third bedroom or office but ideal for a closet—it was perfectly theirs. 

And there was Patrick, trying to put it all together himself. 

“So, going good?” he said, raising an eyebrow. 

“Oh yeah, David. Could not be better,” Patrick grinned sheepishly.

“Tell you what,” David said has he scritched his fingers on Patrick’s shoulders. “Let me call for pizza and then I’ll help.” 

“You will help…build a closet organizing system?” Patrick said skeptically. 

“Mmm, I will provide a clear reading of the directions out loud, strategic planning, and moral support.” 

Patrick cocked his head and looked at him fondly. 

“Deal.”

It actually worked out well. Reading Patrick the directions helped him to visualize what he was doing. Joking about taking off one piece of clothing for each piece put together kept Patrick’s frustrations with the Allen wrench to a minimum. And pizza—well, pizza always helped. 

Hours later, Patrick tightened the final screw as David looked up at him from his spot sprawled on the floor. 

“My dear, your closet awaits,” Patrick said as he dropped down beside David and looked up at his handiwork.

“Thank you, Patrick,” David said quietly. “For doing this. For making sure I got this.”

“David...you...we did this together. We built this life and this closet together. We’re a team, a good team.”

David nodded as he ran his hands over his mouth, looking around. He believed Patrick more and more every day. It just was still a little hard to accept it fully. 

“We are a good team. I...bad habits, I guess. The worry isn’t quite gone yet, that I’m too much. That needing an outsized closet for the house isn’t too much.”

He finally looked at Patrick and shrugged. Patrick grabbed his hand and held it close. 

“I married you, made vows to you, knowing you came with an entire motel suite full of clothes. You are never too much. You will always be just right for me.” 

Kissing David’s hand, he stood up, pulling him along. 

“Now, want to take a shower with me to celebrate a job well done?”

“Absolutely, yes.”

\----

**Two**

The rain that had been threatening their whole walk from the stadium finally started to fall in a loud dramatic fashion, causing David to look up from the menu. Earlier, somewhat ominous clouds had made them decide the small Italian place close-by was as good as any for dinner, and now he's glad they made that call. 

[Looking around](https://imgur.com/a/yoXB7dE), David fell into an old habit of critiquing the space. The lights here were all wrong. They were both harsher and dimmer than the Michelin-starred Italian place a mile east. These lights were function; those were beauty. The noise level wasn’t too high, more so because of the time of day, pre-dinner rush, than curated ambient sounds. All in all, between the lights and the scuffed wood table and the artsy chalkboard sign, David should be turning up his nose at this whole establishment. The old him would never have been caught dead here. Would have walked right past the mid-priced wines, small menu, and take-out counter. And he certainly wouldn’t have been in Toronto for a weekend getaway that involved seeing a baseball game and staying in an Airbnb. 

Drawn from his thoughts, he looked up from the table to see Patrick making his way back from the washroom. With his baseball cap and pink cheeks from too much sun, his husband fit right in here. The old David would have never dreamed of having a husband. He would have believed the rest more plausible than the fact of someone choosing to spend their life with him; someone making actual vows to stay with him forever. Yet, here he was with a soft, affectionate look just for David as he reached the table. 

“Ready to order, David? I’m starving.”

“Um yes, I know exactly what I want," he said as though he'd been scouring the menu the whole time. 

As they ordered dinner and talked about past memories of Patrick’s trips to see the Jays with his Dad, as they split a bottle of okay red and held hands across the table, David knew that this...this was so much better than anything before. The food may not be made to absolute perfection, but it was more than three fussy bites. The lights showed off Patrick’s laugh much better than any lighting installation would. The dark wood table was a perfect contrast to the gold of their rings. 

He wasn’t pretending here—pretending to like the people he’s with or the person he is. He didn’t wonder—wonder how he came across or if he’s about to be left on his own with nothing but the bill. 

He knew that after this, after sharing bites of their dinner and his two desserts, they’d continue their walk—the rain had stopped. Back to the cute little Airbnb and back to the everyday life they’d built together—the life they'd vowed to forge together.

It was exactly what he wanted. 

\---

**Three**

The hot summer air was making David restless. Normally, there was only a day or two in the summer that was too humid for the store. However this year, a heatwave had kept the temperatures unbearable all week, and the customers had stayed home to stay cool.

Lulls like this usually meant that he or Patrick would trade off time on the floor while the other worked on a longer project, yearly projections or a new idea for holiday displays. But frankly, it was too miserable to do much of anything today. 

As such, the boredom and heat made for cranky store owners underfoot of each other. Their usual steady give and take after a year of marriage flipped to rocky snark back and forth that led to an actual raised voice argument. Patrick had stopped them on their way to shouting and said he was taking a walk to get some air (where the air was, David would love to know). He hadn’t slammed the door but the firm finality of the door closing behind him had caused David’s stomach to drop. 

And yet, while David had twisted his rings nervously and walked in circles around the store, finally giving in and pulling his sweater off for just the black t-shirt underneath, he knew deep down...everything was fine. Maybe it was because of the ridiculous topic of their fight—what color dishware they wanted to buy to replace the ones from IKEA Patrick had brought to their marriage. Maybe it was because he knew the heat was trying everyone’s patience, but he wasn’t spiraling with anxiety and worry as he once would have. Patrick would come back and everything would be okay. This he knew for certain. 

David wondered when he had lost that old fear. Lost panicking when things got tough, thinking that everything bad happened to him... and that he was not meant for this happiness. Somewhere along the way, Patrick had shown him that he would keep coming back and that he was here to stay, and David had believed him. The vows they said to each other two summers ago had only solidified that. This marriage was permanent. 

Thirty minutes and one lone customer later, David heard the door open and Patrick walked back in. He had changed into shorts and a t-shirt, less buttoned-up and looking much cooler—and a little sheepish. 

“Hi,” David said, hoping Patrick could tell he wasn’t mad anymore.

“Hey...David I…”

David shook his head as he cut him off. 

“Nope, we’re both idiots. Just hug me quick, cause it’s too hot to make up with you any other way right now.”

Patrick laughed and wrapped his arms around David tight, kissing the spot under David’s ear that he had claimed for his own years ago. 

Something cool met David’s shoulder and he realized that Patrick had been holding his hand behind his back when he walked in.

“Whatcha got there, honey?”

Patrick pulled away with a pleased look, holding out a white cup. 

“Well, I figured if you wouldn’t talk to me, I could lure you in with a milkshake.” 

David laughed and made grabby hands for the cold treat. He also grabbed Patrick’s cold hand and held it close. 

“I’ll always talk to you, I promise. Even when I want to yell.” 

“Okay. And you know, David, that me wanting to take a walk...it’s just a walk. It’s not me leaving…”

“I know. I really do.” 

“I’ll always want to talk to you too...even when I want to yell.”

David set down the milkshake and pulled Patrick in, heat be damned. He felt the cool metal of Patrick’s ring on his cheek as he tried to pour all the calm and commitment he felt into their kiss. 

\----

**4**

Patrick sighed as he pushed back from the desk, squinting and opening his eyes a few times. These days, his eyes were unhappy with him after long reports like the one he just finished. He should stop being stubborn and go see the eye doctor, especially when the king of stubborn had suggested it multiple times himself. Maybe he’d end up with glasses, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. After all, he thought, David looked hot in the black thick-rimmed frames he now wore while reading before bed. 

Patrick stood and stretched, glad to be done with the end of the year projections—they were doing well. Five years in business and they were ready to start thinking of the next step. And while the idea of a second location had been tossed around, they knew they didn’t want to split most of their time apart, which would be needed with two locations. So expanding online seemed to be the way they were headed, bringing in someone who had online expertise and expanding their product line a bit into neighboring communities. 

Now that he was done, Patrick was starving. Realizing the time, he was sure their part-time salesperson Maya had gone home for the night. He wondered what David was doing to pass the time just as he realized he could hear music playing in the front—not their normal store playlist but David’s own. 

Patrick ducked around the curtain and looked into the store, leaning on the doorframe as he caught sight of exactly what his husband was doing. 

David’s back was to him as he faced the shelves on the far wall. He seemed to be contemplating rearranging certain things as he touched various products and thought better of it, moving things back. 

And he was dancing. 

Not full-on...but he shimmied his shoulders and bopped along to Lizzo as she talked about feeling good as hell. 

Patrick felt a grin spread across his face as he watched his husband put his hands up both to straighten the top shelf and in time to the music. 

David in that spot, swaying along to the beat reminded him of another dance, another night, when David put all his feelings, all his pride, on the line to show Patrick exactly how he felt. The night Patrick was first certain this was forever. Now over four years and one exchange of vows later, he knows nothing has changed. This life—this man—is Patrick’s forever. 

He quietly stepped out from behind the counter and snagged a chair, finally catching David’s eye as he sat down exactly in the spot he was in that night all those years ago.

David didn’t even pretend to be embarrassed—he remembered too. He leveled a look, the same look he had given Patrick that night as Tina had begun to sing about calling when I need you and hearts on fire...it certainly was still to this day. 

David danced towards him in all his shoulder shaking glory. Stopping in front of Patrick rather than continuing, he ran his hand down Patrick’s cheek and sat down in his lap, arms tight around his neck. Exactly how they had ended the dance before. 

“You know people can still see you, right?” he joked as he nosed along David’s neck, hands spread low across his back. 

“Mmmm, let them look. They all know how this ends by now.” 

\---

**5**

They hadn’t been out of bed all day. David had woken him up this morning with a hand trailing down his chest, lips sucking a dark mark at the point of his hip bone, and it had just continued from there. Hours of just each other, like this was all brand new rather than years old...not that they ever got the privacy for this back then. 

Now as the light at the window was hazy with winter afternoon sun, they just stayed close. Hands still touching, caressing soft and gentle. Lips grazing sleepily as the lust of the day burned down into the quiet contentment of each other’s presence. 

Patrick shifted a bit, lifting himself up onto one elbow to look down at David. David with wild hair that was curling at the ends a bit. His eyes were sleepy, and there was a mark blooming under his ear where Patrick had stopped caring about being discrete. All and all, he was the most beautiful thing Patrick had ever seen and only he would ever get to see him this free and taken apart. He looked down at this man that changed his whole life’s trajectory—who, from the first moment he laid eyes on him, he wanted to say yes to. 

_Yes_ to leaving behind a steady job and building Rose Apothecary from the ground up.   
_Yes_ to finally understanding himself and all that he was.   
_Yes_ to taking a leap and letting David kiss him that night in the car.   
_Yes_ to learning exactly how he was supposed to feel when someone touched him.  
_Yes_ to love.   
_Yes_ to marriage.  
_Yes_ to movie nights and pizza and the ridiculously big closet and days in bed.  
Over and over and over again... ** _yes_**. 

And David had given him every yes back in return. 

He took David’s hand in his own as he settled above him, their rings clicking together. He leaned in and ran his nose along David’s cheek to the indent of the dimple that showed whenever David was especially pleased with something—pleased with him. 

“Want to stay here forever?” he whispered in David’s ear, squeezing their hands as David smiled his biggest smile, just like the one he’d had on their wedding day. 

“Absolutely yes.”

\---

**+1**

David looked up from his sketchbook as Patrick’s strumming began to go from random lazy chords to little melodies. He was across the deck with a far off look in his eyes. Feet propped up on the railing, old beat-up jeans and Blue Jays tee with a backward baseball cap—a look that should be very incorrect. But over the years David had realized that look worked for him—actually anything Patrick worked for him. 

The chords shifted once again into something vaguely familiar, jangly and bright. A quiet hum as Patrick attempted to match the note to what was in his head. David loved these moments, both of them lost in projects, lost in their own heads but still connected...still in concert with one another. 

Patrick stopped for a moment and glanced over. “Guess what your mom asked me today.” 

“Oh god, I’m not sure I want to know.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Patrick said with a confused look, remembering. “She asked when we were planning our vow renewal?”

“What! Why….we’ve only been married six years. We _just_ had our anniversary. How? You know what? Nevermind.” 

Patrick tipped his head back and laughed. “I was going to have the same reaction, then I realized she either thought we’d been married longer or she thinks that it takes several years to plan a vow renewal ceremony.”

“Probably both,” David grumbled. 

Patrick strummed the guitar once more...that familiar melody. 

“So, should we someday?” he asked. 

“What?" David said with a raised eyebrow. "Renew our vows?”

“Sure, David.” From the gleam in his eyes, David knew he was only half-serious. 

“Do we need to?” Patrick looked confused at David’s question. “I mean, I loved our wedding. I loved what we said to each other. I…I don’t feel I need a refresher on that...do you?”

Patrick turned serious, contemplative. “No, I meant what I said that day. I mean it every day...that won’t change.” 

David looked back at him steadily.

“No, it won’t.” The finality of that settled into him...the certainty. His own words reminded David of a hike and a mountain and “easiest decision of my life.” 

“Good, then we’ll skip the vow renewal and head straight into the second honeymoon in four years,” Patrick said teasingly as he picked back up on his song. 

David sank back in his chair, thinking of what to sketch next...or where they could go on that second honeymoon. 

Patrick’s voice came quietly, picking up in the middle of the song as he finally found the right sequence of chords and words. As they settled back into forever. 

_Run away, go find a lover_  
_Run away, let your heart be your guide_  
_You deserve the deepest of cover_  
_You belong in that home by and by_

_You belong among the wildflowers_  
_You belong somewhere close to me_  
_Far away from your trouble and worry_  
_You belong somewhere you feel free_

**Author's Note:**

> This story came about in bits and pieces over the past six months way before OFN: some from other stories (hello, IKEA), one while eating in an Italian restaurant in Toronto, one from a comment Dan made about David getting over his fear. And I love how they all ended up working together as one look into the future of David and Patrick.
> 
> Thank you to [Bleekay](https://bleekay.tumblr.com/). for the [beautiful art ](https://bleekay.tumblr.com/post/189791902066/you-belong-somewhere-close-to-me-for) to go along with the final scene.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr at [HolmesApothecary](https://holmesapothecary.tumblr.com/).

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Art|| Open Fic Night 2]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22080127) by [bleekay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bleekay/pseuds/bleekay)




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